“When you’re a farm family, you become family with every other farm family.” These emotional words were spoken by Melissa Briel, just two short months after the tragic passing of her husband, Dan, and 14-year-old son, David, in a silo accident at their farm in Wisconsin.

In agriculture, public criticism seems to come with the territory these days. As a farmer, it’s easy to get defensive when your livelihood is misunderstood. But sometimes, criticism is legitimate and change is needed.